This disclosure relates generally to determining if a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) telephone loop is capable of carrying DSL signals, and more particularly for generating improved time domain reflected (TDR) signals for determining DSL telephone loop capability.
Deployment of broadband services on a telephone loop is severely limited by the inherent properties of the copper cable and, in part, because initial deployment of the copper cable was aimed primarily at providing voice services to subscribers. Until the telephone loop electronics and plant are upgraded or replaced, as by installation of optical fiber loops, advanced digital signal processing holds great promise today for subscribers who desire broadband services such as high speed internet access, remote Local Area Network (LAN) access and switched digital video today. Technological advances have brought about Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technology at high data rates, e.g., High-rate DSL (HDSL), Asymmetric DSL (ADSL) and Very high-speed DSL (VDSL). For example, using ADSL technology, broadband signals are modulated by ADSL modems into copper telephone loops at passband frequencies so that Plain Old Telephone Service (POTS) or another baseband service may be carried on the same pair of copper wires. Using the existing copper telephone loop is extremely cost effective as the installation of new cable and structure along with their associated labor and material costs are avoided.
Deployment of technologies such as xDSL (HDSL, ADSL, VDSL, . . . ), however may be limited by the transmission characteristics of the telephone loop. As such, before a particular subscriber may utilize DSL technology for his or her broadband services, the broadband service provider has to determine or have determined the viability of deploying DSL to that subscriber. Thus, there is a need for a system and technique that is able to determine at a subscriber's premises without any intervention or cooperation from the telephone company or Internet Service Provider (ISP) whether the telephone loop is capable of carrying a DSL signal.